The Steep and Thorny Way to Heaven
by tsay cresant
Summary: Akahana Hayashi has worked hard and given up everything to become the shinobi she is today. There is no way that some Konoha brat is going to step in and mess that up. This is her team, and he will have to follow her command. Prequel to Small Surprises, but can be read on its own. : Reviews are appreciated
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sand Village jonin Akahana Hayashi was a tough bitch. Everyone knew that. She walked through the streets of her village with her head held up with pride, averting her gaze from the dickheads she worked with who would blatantly check her out. Not only was she a tough bitch, but she was a hot tough bitch.

She wasn't always this way. Growing up, she was the oldest child in her family, trained from the beginning of her life to be a trophy wife. Her mother, Aika Hayashi, had spent countless hours teaching her daughter the proper way to sit, to speak, and to behave, which Akahana rebelled against at every possible moment. One of her fondest memories is of beating a bunch of local boys in a race by ripping her dress off and racing them in her underwear. Yes, her mother wasn't happy about that.

But, there had always been another side to her. Akahana spent countless hours with their neighbor, Ayame, who had been a shinobi in the hidden leaf village. This mentor saw so much potential in Akahana that she began training her in secret, confiding every jutsu she knew in this young girl.

At sixteen, Akahana was betrothed to a local boy of high wealth and prominence in the community. The night their engagement was announced, Akahana told her mother that she wanted to become a shinobi, not a wife. Outraged, her mother told her that if she wanted to throw her life away, it was her choice, but to not expect to have a home if it didn't work out. She left that night, never to return again.

It's been two years since then and Akahana flourished. She went from being the "prim and polite" person that her mother wanted her to be to the outspoken powerful person she was. Because of that, she was considered a tough bitch.

"Good morning sunshines," Kazue said sarcastically as she rolled out of her bed and into the kitchen that the three kunoichi shared. Kazue was the powerhouse of their three man squad, always there with a sarcastic comment and to tell you things you didn't want to know. Her fire red hair and strong built body matched her personality perfectly, especially since she towered over most of the men in their village.

"You seem cheerful," the shy Miyuki said as she sipped at her tea. She was the brains of the team; a human encyclopedia of information. Black choppy hair framed her face while big round glasses hid her small black eyes.

"Oh why wouldn't I be? Aren't we due for a new mission?" Kazue asked Akahana, who was half awake and pouring herself some tea.

"Just because we're due for one doesn't mean we'll be getting one," she said with irritation floating through her voice. Her long honey blonde hair was wild from a night of restless sleep. Akahana always became restless after not having a mission for a long time.

"One of us needs to grow some testicles so we can finally get some good missions! I mean, seriously, Miyuki and I are chunin. Aka, you're a jonin! Why aren't we getting any good missions?" Kazue yelled as she slammed her fist against the table, making Miyuki's tea jump a little.

"Because ovaries make one incapable of handling anything above a C rank mission, didn't know you?" Akahana threw back as she started eating some toast. They weren't the only female shinobi facing the frustration of horrible missions. Ever since a mission involving a three man squad, one being a girl, ended horribly because the girl couldn't protect her teammates, the kunoichi of the sand village were being left out to dry.

"If that dumb bitch had done something to save her team instead of sitting there and crying, we would be on A missions right now," Kazue grumbled as Akahana threw her a piece of toast.

"Well, we will be doing something soon, no matter what. I got a message from the Kazekage today that he wants to speak to us," Akahana mentioned, making both of her teammates ears perk.

"Finally!"

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right team for this mission Kazekage?" The Kazekage's advisor asked as they stared at the mission description. Team Akahana was to escort the princess of the Land of Wind to the Land of Fire, as an offering for peace and an offer to become allies.

"Yes," he said sternly. "A female feels more comfortable around other females. I think it is the perfect match."

"But what if they get into a conflict? Do you think they'll be able to protect the princess?" he asked, unsure of their abilities.

"I've already considered this. They won't be travelling alone. The village hidden in the Leaf has offered to send one of their shinobi to aid them on this mission. If we are to gain this influential ally, this could mean that this powerful shinobi may become more useful to us later," Kazekage answered firmly.

"Who's this powerful shinobi?"

"Kakashi Hatake."

* * *

"Yo Kakashi!" Guy called as he saw his white haired rival strolling through Konoha. All the shinobi in the village knew he was leaving for Suna tomorrow morning, and Guy knew that this could be his last opportunity to challenge his friend before he left.

"Yo," he answered, waving to Guy as he continued walking. Kakashi was indifferent about this trip. To him, it was just another mission he had to accomplish, just with different people in a different setting. Ever since he lost his team, Kakashi had only done solo missions, which he didn't mind. He had to admit though; it would be nice to have a team again, even if it was temporary.

"Challenge, right now!" Guy said excitedly as he followed his friend.

"Fine," Kakashi said with mock dread. "What is it this time?" Guy pondered the question for a minute. He didn't want another game of rock paper scissors. No, he wanted an actual challenge. Preferably, something he could win. What could he beat Kakashi at though? Then, it clicked.

"Whoever gets the most girls' phone numbers by the end of the day wins," Guy said with a thumbs up. Kakashi snorted at the idea of Guy asking any girl for their phone number, but why not?

"Fine," he answered, shoving his hands in his pockets and scoping out the territory. "You know, as of now, we're tied."

"There's a lot on the line," Guy said back, anticipation filling his voice. Kakashi nodded, spotting three girls sitting at the ramen bar.

"How about we raise the difficulty?" Kakashi wagered. "Whoever gets one of those three girls' numbers right now has it counted as two numbers."

"Deal," Guy said, hurrying over to the girls. Kakashi walked behind him, interested in seeing his technique. "Hello ladies." The three civilian girls all looked at him as if he were something that came from a sci-fi book. His cheesy grin and huge wiggling eyebrows weren't helping his case either. "I was just wondering if I could get one of you pretty ladies to go on a date with me? Maybe exchange phone numbers?" he added a wink in to sweeten the deal.

The girls screamed, shouting choruses of 'creep', 'weirdo', and 'loser' at him, when Kakashi stepped in.

"I'm sorry, is he bothering you?" Kakashi asked the girls, whose eyes were instantly filled with hearts. "I'm sorry; he can be a bit of an idiot. Come on Guy, we'd better get going…"

"Wait," the oldest of the three girls said, grabbing a napkin from the table and scrawling down her name and phone number. "What did you say your name was?"

"Kakashi," he said with a smile that crinkled his one visible eye.

"Call me Kakashi," she said, handing him her phone number while Guy fumed.

"Thanks," he said with a smile as they turned away. "That's two for me and zero for you," he said after they were a safe distance away.

"You may have won this battle, but you haven't won the war!" Guy yelled as he ran off in the other direction. Kakashi just laughed and looked around for the next girl.

* * *

"You wanted to speak with us Kazekage?" Akahana said as she came into the room with her team, all of them antsy with anticipation.

"Mm, yes, I have a mission for you three," he said, making all of their faces light up with excitement. "It's an A rank body guard mission." Now they were practically exploding with excitement.

"Oh thank you so much Kazekage. We'll make sure to do really well," Akahana started, feeling elated.

"I know you will, but this mission won't happen for another month or so," he said, dropping their mood from excited to slightly disappointed. "I wanted to give you all time to adjust to the newest member of your team."

"We're getting a new teammate?" Miyuki asked, confused by why they needed another team member.

"Yes," he said sternly. "I can't have you three going by yourself on that mission, and all of our other jonin will be or are busy on very important missions, so the leaf village has graciously allowed us to borrow one of their shinobi."

"Who?" Kazue asked, not liking this more and more every second.

"Kakashi Hatake," he answered. "He'll be a good person to have around and keep you three level headed. We can't have another mistake caused by female emotions."

"Kazekage," Akahana said angrily, trying as hard as she could to cover it, "I don't mean any disrespect, but I am a jonin of this village and highly capable of leading this mission without his help."

"The anger that you're trying so hard to hide just strengthens my argument," he said, almost with a smirk. "Kakashi Hatake will be here within a week or so. I trust you three can make living arrangements for him and that you will welcome him as a member of your team. I haven't decided yet, but I may make him the commander of this team for this mission."

That sent Akahana off edge. No way in hell was some Konoha brat going to come in and take over her team. She had worked her ass off for two years, jumping through the ranks to finally become a jonin and have her own team. Now it seemed like in a matter of minutes, that was all going to be taken from her.

"You three are dismissed," he said firmly. The three shinobi turned and left his office in silence, once they were a good distance away, they erupted.

"THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT SOME DICK FROM KONOHA IS TAKING YOUR PLACE!" Kazue screamed once they got into their house. "Where does the Kazekage get off even suggesting that?"

"Don't worry about it," Akahana said, her tone showing her cold rage. "I will be the commander of this team, even if he claims this Hatake guy is. Trust me."

* * *

Kakashi bought a bottle of sake from the store and walked back to his apartment, whistling to himself the entire time. Guy and he decided to meet there to count up their phone numbers. Kakashi had a pretty decent amount, but he thought he may get a few more on the way home, just to be safe. There was Kurenai, a girl he kind of knew from the academy. If he recalled correctly, she use to have a pretty decent sized crush on him.

"Hey Kurenai," Kakashi said with a smile as he approached her. She smiled as she pushed her black hair behind her ear. _Oh yeah, this is a shoe in._

"Hey Kakashi," she said, her smile giving herself away. "How have you been? We haven't talked in a while."

"Yeah, I know. I've been pretty good. I don't really have time to talk now though… Listen, could I get your number? Then I could call you and we could catch up," Kakashi said smoothly, but in a way that didn't sound like he was trying to be smooth. Kurenai blushed as she pulled a piece of paper from a notebook in her pack, scribbled her number and handed it to him. "Cool, thanks. See ya Kurenai."

Now he had to hurry. Guy was probably waiting in front of his door, seeing how many times he can pace or how long he can do a hand stand. Sure enough, Kakashi was right.

"Hello arch rival!" Guy called as he stood on his head in front of Kakashi's door, his face turning red from the blood all rushing into his head.

"Yo," Kakashi said with a smile. "I got sake for this special occasion."

"One of us will be celebrating, and the other drinking their sorrows," Guy said happily as he took the sake from Kakashi and the copy nin unlocked his apartment door. Comfortable with Kakashi's house, Guy ran over to his coffee table and put the sake down. Then he hurried over to the cabinets and pulled out cups, slamming them down on the table as he slid in front of it.

"Shall we begin counting?" Kakashi asked as he unhitched his pack from his pants and put it on the table. Guy did the same while Kakashi poured them both some sake. "Don't forget, the first number I got counted as two."

"I won't," Guy said as he pulled out a few pieces of paper and counted them. "I have six."

Six was more than Kakashi had expected him to get. After receiving his first number that counted as two, Kakashi almost hadn't even tried asking any other girls, figuring two would be enough. Unluckily for Guy, he decided to ask a few more girls anyways.

"I have," Kakashi started as he pulled the wad of paper out of his pouch. "Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen."

"No!" Guy yelled angrily, throwing back his sake and pouring himself another cup. "Drinking contest! Right now!"

This turned out to be a bad idea. Both shinobi had high alcohol tolerance and downed at least two bottles of sake on their own. By the time they were through their fifth shared bottle, they were so drunk that they couldn't even walk, let alone remember that this was a challenge, so they passed out on the floor of Kakashi's apartment, not even considering that Kakashi had to be up bright and early for his mission tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for the review/alerts. Enjoy.**

Chapter 2

The way the sunlight burnt his eyes, that every noise sounded like a sonic boom, and how walking in a straight line seemed to escaped him all were reasons Kakashi regretted having a drinking contest with Guy last night. Fortunately, he didn't have to see the Hokage before he left, since he handled all the necessary paperwork and briefing within the past few days. He knew if he had seen him, he would be getting a long lecture about how his father would be ashamed of such behavior and how Kakashi wouldn't live past eighteen if he kept drinking his weight in sake. Well, he was a shinobi. His life expectancy wasn't very long anyways.

He carelessly flicked open Itcha Itcha as he started the long walk. Normally, he would've used a few transportation jutsu and brought himself a little closer to his destination, but he didn't want to risk it. He's heard countless stories of shinobi performing jutsu while hung over and getting far from satisfactory outcomes, so he decided to wait until it wore off to use any sort of jutsu.

Instead of rereading his book though, Kakashi let his mind wander to the ghosts that he would be leaving for a while. Sure, he'd been somewhat excited when he heard he was going to be part of a new team, but would he still feel those holes where Obito, Rin, and Sensei were supposed to be? Subconsciously, his hand went to Obito's eye and then drifted lazily back to his side, swaying with his stride. He wouldn't fail his team, not this time.

* * *

"I bet he thinks he's just walking into his own harem of Sand Village whores," Kazue predicted bitterly as she threw a batch of shuriken at their sand bag targets.

"Perhaps," Miyuki said with a squeak, throwing her own shuriken. They didn't land as accurately as Kazue's, but they were pretty close. Both Akahana and Kazue were very worried about how Miyuki would react to this new teammate. While none of her phobias played into effect when they were on missions, in normal life Miyuki was absolutely terrified of men, even those she knew well. All of her life she had been pushed around by the men her single parent mother dated. She was able to handle it okay until the man who eventually became her step father moved in. Then he molested her, on more than one occasion.

"Are you sure you're okay with him rooming with you Akahana?" Miyuki asked, pulling Akahana from her thoughts. She smiled.

"I don't mind. You and Kazue share a room, so it's only right for me to have a roommate. And besides, I want to keep a close eye on him," Akahana said, hoping that her confidence would instill some confidence in Miyuki. It seemed to work, showing in her relaxed sigh as she threw a few more accurate shuriken.

"I bet he'll try and sleep with one of us by the end of the month," Kazue said, making all the confidence drain from Miyuki. Akahana glared as her, but just sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

"I should probably get ready to pick him up, huh?" she asked herself as she walked back into their house and changed from her normal clothes into her shinobi uniform. With precision, she braided and wound her thick hair into a bun and tucked it into her mask. Her shinobi uniform was the average Suna jonin uniform, only when she was on missions she wore a mask that covered everything on her head but her eyes and ears. She found that it kept a distinct barrier between her work and normal life, plus people took her much more seriously in this uniform. She decided that this would be the only side this Hatake guy would see.

"Hey, we'll see you later, right?" Kazue asked as her commander emerged from the bedroom that she would soon share with the Konoha shinobi. She nodded and waved to her friends as she disappeared into the Kazekage's office.

"Hello Akahana. Your timing is impeccable, as usual," the Kazekage said as soon as she appeared. She looked from the Kazekage to the shinobi standing in front of his desk. To her dismay, she was impressed. While he wasn't much taller than herself, he was toned from what she could see, but he held himself in a way that screamed laziness. He also wore a mask, to her surprise.

"Hello Kazekage. So this is Kakashi Hatake?" she asked her leader, trying to not speak to Kakashi until they were formally introduced.

"Yes, Kakashi Hatake, this is Akahana Hayashi, the leader of the team you will be accompanying," he said, leading the shinobi to turning and facing Akahana. She wasn't going to lie to herself, he was attractive, but that's as far as she'd think. Period.

"Hello," he said with a friendly tone. She gave him a slight bow and then looked back to the Kazekage.

"Here are the briefings for the next few missions I want you and your team to complete in order to prepare you for the more important mission later. I trust you can fill Kakashi in on what he needs to know and where he will be staying?" Akahana nodded to his stern words. "Excellent. You both are dismissed."

"You don't talk much," Kakashi pointed out as they walked in silence from the Kazekage's office to the town. Akahana scowled at him.

"That's because I'm trying to hold my tongue," she said, her irritation leaking through the cracks of the serious voice she was trying to keep with him. Kakashi shot her a questioning look. "The only reason you're here is because the powers above me believe that my team needs babysitting, since we're all kunoichi."

"Ah," Kakashi understood. He'd heard about the situation that had happened with one of the Sand Village's teams and how tight of a squeeze that was putting on all of the female shinobi. "Well, we might as well make the best of the situation."

"Right," Akahana grumbled as they continued to walk. Already she was kicking herself for showing too much emotion. He didn't need to know about why he was here; it wasn't his place to question it. They were shinobi. Tools for the higher powers to use.

"Is this the place?" Kakashi asked as they approached the small house that the team shared. Akahana nodded as she slid the door open.

"We're home! Come meet the fresh blood," Akahana called, sending both of her teammates into the room; Kazue flying in while Miyuki crept behind her.

"Damn," Kazue muttered under her breath, looking Kakashi up and down.

"Ahem," Akahana 'coughed', making Kazue stop being inappropriate. "This is Kazue. Kazue, this is Kakashi."

"Nice to meet you," he said with a wave.

"Same here," she said more longingly than anyone in the room was comfortable with. Kakashi was use to girls liking him, but usually they weren't so open about it.

"And, this is Miyuki," Akahana introduced, not pushing Miyuki to approach him. She kept her distance and gave a shy wave. Kakashi waved back, liking her a lot more than Kazue, who was practically undressing him with her eyes. "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping. Kazue, make yourself useful and start dinner. It'll give you something to do instead of imagining our newest member naked."

Kakashi choked on air, not expecting such blunt statements to be thrown around by girls, but it wasn't a bad thing. If anything, he liked the openness that the members shared. It felt like they were not only teammates, but best friends. He just hoped he wasn't intruding too much.

"That's your bed," Akahana said as she gestured with her thumb to a cot in the corner of her room. "This is my bed. Don't touch," she said, pointing to her nice comfortable looking bed.

"Sounds good. Thanks," Kakashi said, dropping his backpack on his bed. Akahana closed the door, deciding that it was time to run through the house rules with him.

"We don't have many rules here, but there are some," she said, standing in the corner with her arms crossed. Kakashi stared at her, waiting for his rules. "1, no sleepovers with members of the opposite sex. These walls are thin. 2, we take turns with taking care of meals. Pretty much, every day someone is in charge of making sure we at least get one good meal of something. Don't worry, we'll let you know when it's your day, probably with a chorus of 'we're hungry's. 3, use all the hot water and face the consequences. And, lastly, your own special rule: stay away from Miyuki."

"Why?" he asked to the last question. Akahana rubbed her hands against her hips nervously, not sure if she should confide this information in this shinobi. He was her teammate… even if it had only been for a few hours.

"I'm only telling you this so you know to stay away from her," Akahana said with warning laced in her voice. He nodded. "She's afraid of men… She was molested as a kid and hasn't really gotten over it. The fact that she didn't leave the house running when you came in is an improvement, but you need to keep away from her."

"No problem," Kakashi said with a nod, sympathy showing in his voice. "So, I'm assuming this house is run under your dictatorship?"

"No, we're a democracy," she said with a smile, hating how much she was starting to warm up to this guy.

"Oh really? Does that mean I'll get a say in things?" he asked even though he had a feeling in his gut that he knew the answer.

"No. This is an estrogenocracy. If you want a say, grow a uterus," Akahana said sharply. "It smells like dinner is getting close to done. Whenever you're ready, you can eat. I guess I'll leave you to unpack or whatever."

Akahana left her room, sliding the door gently behind her. She hated that habit that had stuck with her from her early days. She couldn't firmly close doors. It was always quiet with grace.

When the door clicked shut, Kakashi pushed his backpack under his bed, kicked off his shoes, and laid back on his new bed, feeling like he could definitely fit in here as he listened to Kazue talk loudly about how she claimed the leftovers for herself, only to be reminded by Miyuki that he had to eat. Akahana threw in a 'no he doesn't', just to add to the conversation.

Yeah, he could definitely like it here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Thanks for reviews/favorites/alerts! I appreciate each and every one of them ^_^ Enjoy.**

Chapter 3

"We're going on a mission! We're going on a mission!" Kazue sang to herself as she ate breakfast. Miyuki smiled at her enthusiasm, also feeling excited, but extremely nervous. It was going to be their first mission with this new shinobi and she didn't exactly trust him. Not only was he a man, but he was a masked man. That made it so much worse.

The tea kettle screeched, sending Miyuki running to pull it off the heat. Awakened by the kettle, Akahana stumbled out of her room, taking in the scene before her.

"Morning team. Where's our token male?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes and flopped down at the table.

"He left about an hour ago to train before we leave," Kazue answered. "He isn't use to running in the sand, so he said he wanted to get use to it before we go on our mission. Speaking of which, what is our mission?"

"I'll brief you all on it when he gets back," she said with a yawn as she rubbed her tired blue eyes. "I'm not a fan of repeating myself."

Both of her teammates nodded, knowing that their commander had certain pet peeves that they've come to accept. Miyuki came around with the kettle, pouring all of the shinobi some tea as they all woke up from another chilly night in the village.

"So, since he's gone," Kazue said in a sing song voice. "I just have to say, he is hot."

"He's alright," Akahana said, trying to hide the fact that she agreed with Kazue. "I bet he has a bad face since he hides it."

"Or he's extremely attractive and does it to keep the women from tearing his clothes off," Kazue thought out loud as she took a sip of tea. Miyuki blushed, opening a book that she had on her and pretending to read, in order to prevent being asked her opinion.

"I guess it could be worse too," Akahana noted. "He doesn't seem to be all that pushy or anything. Easy going is good."

"You know if the Kazekage would've made him the commander of our missions, you'd be singing a totally different song," Kazue jabbed, nudging her commander and friend.

"Definitely, but he didn't, so I'm not," she said with a shrug.

It had gone from unreasonably cold to excruciatingly hot as Kakashi ran back from his finishing jog around the village. It was smart of him to go train and get use to the terrain. The differences between Suna and Konoha were so huge that it took him a while to get even close to his normal performance level. The last thing he wanted was to drag his team down, especially if it was an important or dangerous mission.

"Hey, look what the cat dragged in. You look like a hot mess," Kazue said as she sat on the front porch, taking a deep inhale from her cigarette that was held in a dark red cigarette holder.

"It's so hot here," Kakashi grumbled, dragging himself up the stairs. If he was already feeling sluggish and it was only ten in the morning, he was in trouble when noon rolled around.

"Oh, you'll be fine," she laughed, blowing smoke in his face. He waved it off, not being bothered by it too much because of Asuma, and walked inside. Miyuki was sitting in the kitchen, reading, but he wasn't sure where Akahana was. He could hear music playing from their room, so he assumed that must be it. Not wanting to be rude, he knocked. The music instantly disappeared and the door slid open.

"You're back," she stated. "and really need to bathe."

"I'm aware of both of these observations. I just wanted to grab a change of clothes," he said back, walking past her and over to his few possessions he brought along. Akahana leaned against the frame of the door, folding her arms at her chest and watching the shinobi. "What?"

"Nothing," she mumbled as he walked out, sliding the door shut gently with her foot. Kakashi just shrugged and hurried off to a cold bath, hoping that it would relieve some of the heat he felt.

* * *

"JUST TELL US THE MISSION ALREADY!" Kazue snapped as Akahana turned off her weird music and came into the kitchen where all of her team was congregated. She almost laughed at how wilted Kakashi looked. It reminded her of how the heat shocked her the first time she came to the village.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," Akahana answered, sitting down with her team. "Our 'extremely dangerous' and 'life threatening' mission today is to deliver mail."

"Wait…. Seriously?" Kakashi asked, irritation filling his voice. "That's a D mission."

"Not quite. We're delivering the mail from here to another village. The Kazekage said there shouldn't be anything of particular value in it, but we are to act as there is. He's using it as more of a teamwork exercise than a mission," Akahana answered. "I have the bag of scrolls in my room. We'd better leave in a few minutes, so we aren't late."

Disappointed grumbles followed the team as they left the house and started the walk to the nearby village. Akahana could tell all of them were disappointed, especially her girls who hadn't had an actual mission in months, but she just kept reminding herself that they would be doing something of importance soon.

"So, Hatake, tell us: are you single?" Kazue said with a wink, making Kakashi move from standing next to her to standing on the other side of Akahana.

"Yes," Kakashi answered. "And I plan on keeping it that way."

"Damn," Kazue said, snapping her fingers. "Oh well. I usually don't like guys who are shorter than me anyways."

"That hasn't stopped you before," Miyuki chuckled, walking the furthest away from Kakashi. He smiled at her, hoping that she would warm up to him, but also understanding why she may never do so.

"Ah Kazue, you really shouldn't be flirting with the enemy," Akahana pointed out. "He is still our babysitter, remember?"

"Doesn't mean I can't enjoy his company," she said suggestively. Never had Kakashi been around a girl who's made him this uncomfortable. The closest was probably Anko and even she was tame compared to this.

"No, but you don't want him filing a sexual harassment suit," Akahana said with a sigh as she adjusted the bag of scrolls on her back. She really wished she didn't have to wear her full mask, but she told herself this was the only her that this Kakashi guy would know. She can't get too comfortable with him.

It was about a twenty minute walk to the small village, which brought back some uncomfortable memories of Akahana's old village to her. She cringed at all the young girls she saw, wearing different jewelry that signified engagement or even marriage. She remembered that all too well, but refused to let herself dwell too much on it now.

"Uh Commander?" Miyuki said worriedly as she waved her hand in front of Akahana's face. She'd been staring at those girls, to the point where they'd noticed her and ran off, thinking she was some creepy guy.

"Sorry, just…" she stopped, knowing she didn't have to explain herself. "It'll be easier if we split off into groups. There's a lot here, so how about Kazue and Miyuki take care of the mail in the North and Kakashi and I will take care of the south." She slung the bag off of her back and handed out the scrolls that needed to go to the North to her two original teammates. "We'll meet back here around three and see how far we've gotten. Dismissed."

Kazue linked her arm in Miyuki's and hurried off with her, probably getting ready to gossip or complain about something. Fortunately for Kazue, Miyuki was a great listener. Now Akahana just had to focus on this mission…

"Where to first Commander?" Kakashi asked, picking up the bag and putting it on his back with ease.

"This way," Akahana said, pointing to the left. She had studied a map of the village and arranged the scrolls in order from left to right. "If we start at the very end of the street and work our way in an up and down line, it'll be much easier."

"Anything you say," he said, following her in that direction. She just smiled as she pictured Kakashi as her pack mule and riding on his back. She shook the thought from her head to avoid laughing and continued walking.

"Do you really hate me as much as you like to make me think?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes," Akahana lied. Truthfully, she was warming up to the shinobi, much to her dismay.

"That's disappointing," he said with a shrug.

"Why?" She asked. Kakashi didn't answer because they reached the first house. "Just drop the scrolls in the mailbox.

"Wow, we really are mail men," he said as he dropped the scrolls in the rickety mail box. He could feel Akahana glaring at him, "I mean mail persons."

"Yeah, and this is the most exciting mission we've had," she said with a sigh. "Genin have been getting better missions than us."

"That really isn't fair," Kakashi said as they walked from house to house, dropping off scrolls.

"It isn't, but it's not like we can tell the Kazekage to shove off. We have to do what he asks us to, and these are the things he asks us to do," she mumbled. "Although, the mission you've been brought here for is a much better one."

"You already know what it is?" he asked.

"Of course I do, but we won't be leaving for another week, maybe longer if the Kazekage wants to postpone it more," she said with excitement.

"What's the mission?" he asked curiously.

"I can't tell you," she said, trying to not sound coy or flirty, just serious. "The other girls know because they were there when the Kazekage told me, but you have to wait until the official briefing. I don't like repeating myself."

"Fair enough," he said as he pulled his book out of his pocket and started reading. Akahana was instantly shocked and appalled.

"What are you reading?" she asked in the voice a teacher would use if they had just caught a child doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.

"Itcha Itcha Paradise," he answered, completely unfazed. She wasn't sure what sort of tactic she would use, but she knew that she would make sure he didn't read that book around her.

"Can you please not?" she asked, trying the nice way.

"Why? Does it bother you?" he asked, stopping at a mailbox and pulling out the scrolls and dropping them in.

"Yes," she said as her anger started bubbling over.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"It's porn!" she yelled, getting a few dirty looks from civilians.

"It's been called that," he said with a shrug.

"Because it is!" she was practically screaming now. How was it that this guy could go from being a fun person to talk to, to someone she wanted to murder in the street?

"There's no need to yell," he jabbed playfully. She took his book with surprising ease and threw it in her vest pocket. He wasn't going to read that trash in front of her.

* * *

"Mission complete!" Kazue said with faux enthusiasm as they stood at the meeting place.

"Good. We delivered all of ours too, so it's time to head home," Akahana said, still irritated from the porn incident. To make matters worse-

"Commander, why do you have porn in your pocket?" Kazue asked as she pulled out Itcha Itcha Paradise, which had been sticking out of the pocket a little bit. "Oh la la, I didn't realize you were into this kind of stuff."

"I'M NOT!" she screeched, taking the book from Kazue. She could feel her face becoming as bright as a cherry since Kazue would not let it go.

"This makes so much sense now! I always knew behind that serious façade there was some kinky bad girl just waiting to be-"

"You are so mistaken," she said once she had her cool. "It isn't mine. It's Kakashi's. He was reading it in public."

"Ohhhhhh," Kazue said, looking at Kakashi. "That's why he's in no hurry to find a girlfriend! I get it!"

To say that everyone was embarrassed by this remark and what it implied would have been an understatement, except for Kazue, who continued to make remarks about Kakashi probably having the strongest hands in Konoha.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Sorry for the slow update. I've probably edited this chapter 7 times before I got it to a point where I was happy with it. As always, thanks for the reviews/alerts/favorites! I appreciate them :) I made a map for this as a visual aid of where they're going and I kind of made up a country since it wasn't labeled on said map. You can check it out at ./tumblr_m4t983HNXI1qjtp93o1_. Enjoy :)**

Chapter 4

It was around midnight when Akahana began mapping out the route her team would take when escorting the princess. The Kazekage had decided to not delay the mission any longer, probably because things were beginning to show some strain between Konoha and Suna, so they were to leave for the Wind Country's palace in two days.

Planning missions, especially important detailed ones like this, stressed Akahana's nerves to their full extent. That's why when she was mapping, she was drinking (not too heavily) and had music playing. The Suna didn't have any sort of music since they thought it could be distracting to their shinobi, but Akahana had purchased a few records outside of town and brought them back for her own enjoyment. She'd always loved music.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked as he walked into the kitchen, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"Planning for our mission. What are you doing? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she asked, already feeling exposed because the top half of her mask was off. He could see her honey blonde hair that was pulled up in a pony tail, just brushing the middle of her back.

"I couldn't sleep," he said, sitting down next to her. She went to move the map away from him, but then decided to leave it. He was a jonin, so maybe he could see a glaring conflict in her planning. "Is this the route for our mission?"

"Yeah, we have to go to the Wind Country's palace first, and then start on our way to the Fire Country," she said, rubbing her temples. She could already see some glaring obstacles, just in travelling. The princess would have to stop every night, but most inns won't accept shinobi in the Wind Country. She wasn't sure of the Fire Country's policy, but she didn't think any inn would be too keen on renting a room to shinobi from another country. Sending the princess inside alone would be too risky and since she'll be under false identity, they couldn't pull the 'she's royalty' card.

Besides this issue, they were told specifically to stop in Konoha before the princess was taken to the capital. This was very far out of the way, but orders were orders. The upside was it would be a good place to restock on any supplies they may need.

Akahana had decided that instead of passing through the Rain Country and maybe facing some Rain shinobi that they would pass through the Land of Song. It was similar to the Tea Country, where she had grown up, in the sense that it didn't have shinobi of its own, but was allied with the Suna. She'd never been there before, but from what she'd heard, it could be hostile civilian wise.

"We could save time by cutting straight instead of going in this round line," Kakashi pointed out.

"Yes, but the princess will need to rest a lot more than we will. I made sure to plan the trail so that we will be in some sort of town by the end of each night," Akahana replied, making Kakashi nod.

"We're stopping in Konoha?" he sounded like he dreaded it more than looked forward to it. Akahana nodded.

"Kazekage's orders. I think he wants to start building a bond between Suna shinobi and Konoha shinobi, since we'll be allies soon, but I can't know for sure," she said with a sigh. She hated not knowing the entire situation, but that's how being a shinobi worked. "I think that's all the planning. Tomorrow I'm going to go through the list of everything we need until we can restock supplies in Konoha and we should probably train a little, just to stay on our toes…"

She just closed her eyes, not wanting to be worried. Even though it was exciting to be doing an important mission, she knew that if they screwed this up, not only would that hinder other kunoichi's opportunities even more, but it could also mean a war would break out between Konoha and Suna… She may have to fight the person sitting next to her.

Speaking of him, she noticed him taking her sake and drinking some of it. She wanted to glare at him, but didn't. Instead, she warmed up another bottle and opened it up. She never really drank her sake with the cups that most people did, but straight from the bottle. It seemed like Kakashi didn't mind doing that either.

"I don't make a habit of drinking this close to a mission… Yet, this would be the second time of recent," he said as he held up the bottle in cheers to Akahana. She held hers up and took a swig.

"I find it takes the nerves off," she said, going over to her radio and turning it up just a few notches. "Do you like music?"

"It's alright," Kakashi shrugged. He never really listened to any music, minus a few travelling musicians that sometimes visited Konoha. He was probably the most indifferent person about it.

"I see," she said, taking another swig. "So, you like reading porn and going on missions?"  
"I do other things," Kakashi objected.

"Oh really?" she questioned, walking back over to him and sitting down. "Tell me about it."

Within the course of the night, both shinobi became obscenely drunk as they told stories. The more they drank, the more personal their stories became.

"When I was twelve, I was officially promised to someone," Akahana confided, slurring a few words, but trying to not let her brain get too foggy. "He was a dick."

"Where are you from?" Kakashi asked, knowing that all of her stories didn't seem like they took place in the Suna.

"The tea country, small town. My father was… or is, I haven't heard from him in years, a farmer and my mom a housewife… Only child," she said, tipping her head back to get the last drop, only to warm up another bottle and help herself. "And you?"

"Always have lived in Konoha. I don't remember my mother, but I know she was a shinobi. My father was a shinobi as well, died when I was young," he answered as his eyes drooped with drunkenness but not exhaustion. Akahana sat back down next to him, sipping some more sake.

"You know what I hate the most? I can't slam doors," she laughed, taking another sip. "No matter how angry I become, I find it impossible to slam the door because I've been trained since forever to always pretend there is an egg in the door and you don't want to crack it."

"Why would there be an egg in the door?" Kakashi asked, chuckling to himself.

"Exactly," Akahana answered, putting her bottle down and looking at Kakashi. Even in his drunken state, he seemed somewhat alert, but more relaxed now. Instead of being in his shinobi uniform, he wore a light brown shirt and shorts, still with his mask on. Akahana stared at his red eye and the scar, but decided that question was for another day.

"I think I understand now why everyone hates that I wear a mask," he said as she realized he had been staring at her too. "I've known you for a few weeks, but I feel like I don't know you at all."

"Oh," Akahana said, her clouded brain not reminding her that the whole reason she's kept her mask on was so that he wouldn't know her. Instead, it hatched a scheme. "Then, let's play a game?"

"A game?" he asked. Akahana took another sip of sake and then leaned back.

"I'll show you mine, you show me yours," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Only, with our masks, obviously."

"Right," Kakashi said. He pondered this for a moment, thinking about how he never really showed anyone except his family, Guy and the occasional waiter/waitress his face, but it was three in the morning and both of them were drunk, so why not? "Who first?"

"I will," she said as she tucked her fingers under her mask and rolled it down to her neck. Kakashi was thankful she'd gone first, because he wasn't sure if it was the sake or her, but his face was on fire. Her round face not only contained her big blue eyes now, but her small pointed nose and full pink lips that were pulled into a smile. He watched her lips, which were obviously moving, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. "Kakashi?" she snapped her fingers.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking back at her eyes.

"I said, 'your turn'," she said patiently, resting her chin in her hands. Kakashi reached up to his face and rolled down his navy mask, instantly feeling embarrassed, like he was walking around naked or something. Akahana stared, taking in every detail. Kazue was right: he was hot.

Both of the shinobi just stared at each other, their eyes examining every inch of the other's face. Akahana noticed Kakashi's slight stubble while Kakashi noticed a light scar on Akahana's cheek. _Why do I feel so dizzy?_ Akahana thought to herself.

They inched closer and closer to each other, each wondering different things and both brave from the alcohol. Akahana reached out and ran her fingers across Kakashi's chin, feeling the tiny white stubble and remembering her mother doing the exact same thing to her father once. She noticed his creme skin instantly turned bright red at the touch. Was that why he wore a mask? He didn't have a poker face.

Akahana blinked a few times as her brain started working again and asking her what the hell she was doing. She ignored it for a little longer as she took her pointer finger and ran it down the scar under Kakashi's eye. Then she knew she couldn't ignore her common sense any longer.

"We… we should get some sleep," she said, her face heating up, but no blush appearing. Kakashi nodded in agreement and the pair went to their room, each sleeping in their separate beds, but neither could sleep. Akahana pretended to sleep for a while until sleep finally did come, but Kakashi just stayed awake, listening to the shinobi's deep breaths.

* * *

"Is she alright? She never sleeps in like this," Miyuki worried as she sat with Kazue in the kitchen. Kakashi was leaning against one of the counters, pretending to read, but since he didn't sleep last night, the words were just blurs.

"She was probably up late planning," Kazue replied, noticing the strange air around Kakashi when Akahana was mentioned. "What do you think Kakashi?"

"Maybe," he answered, sounding like he didn't care. In his head though, he was exploding. No one ever saw him with his mask off, except for Guy of course because they were best friends. But not random strangers! He had to admit, she didn't feel like a random stranger last night, but then what? And why the hell was he feeling this now of all times?

"Well, I think I should barge in there and wake her lazy ass up," Kazue said as she stormed over to the door. Kakashi walked over with her, putting his hands out so she wouldn't go in there.

"She was probably up late… you should just let her sleep," Kakashi said timidly, hoping that she didn't notice him coming to her rescue. Kazue just smiled suspiciously, the wheels in her head turning.

"I guess you're right. She'd better get up soon though. She and Miyuki are supposed to go shopping today, leaving you and me with the lovely task of starting the paperwork! Yay!" she said with faux enthusiasm. She wasn't planning on focusing on the paperwork, but focusing on the extreme amounts of psychological warfare she was going to put this shinobi through in order to get the exact details.

Because of the ruckus outside of her door, Akahana started waking up and taking in her surroundings. She knew that she'd had some crazy dreams, but that was the craziest… except it wasn't a dream. She knew because she wasn't wearing her mask, but she'd been sleeping with it on ever since Kakashi had shown up. She blushed, remembering all of last night but moved to get up and get over it. Even though she had no clue what exactly this meant between her and Kakashi, she figured it must not mean a whole lot…

Once she was back in her full shinobi uniform, Akahana composed herself, deciding to not make anything awkward between them and staying completely professional.

"Hey, look who rolled out of bed, finally," Kazue said into her tea. "Miyuki's been waiting for you to get up, but she's too polite to barge in. I was going to myself, but Kakashi stopped me."

It was as if Kazue was reading Akahana's mind. She knew right away that the red headed kunoichi knew something was up, which made Akahana flinch just a little.

"Well, I... was up late working on mapping out our route," Akahana half lied. "Now let's go Miyuki. We have loads of stuff to do before we leave tomorrow."

Miyuki nodded and the two kunoichi moved out, leaving Kakashi with Kazue. Slowly, a Cheshire cat grin slipped onto her face as she moved over to where Kakashi was sitting and reading.

"So how was it?" she asked. Kakashi didn't even look up at her.

"How was what?" He asked dumbly.

"You know," she said, throwing herself in the seat next to him.

"No, I don't," he said back. He had an idea of what Kazue was implying, but she couldn't possibly think that…

"Yes, you do. I know you two had to have done something," she laughed.

"Is that so?" he asked, trying to show no interest. "Why would you say that?"

"Because you and Akahana wouldn't meet eyes this morning. Whatever it was, it must have been super kinky," she said with a wink.

"Nothing happened," Kakashi insisted.

"How was it?" she asked, completely ignoring Kakashi's denial.

"I don't think I have to answer that," he said sharply, deciding that she wasn't going to believe him when he said nothing, but that was just nothing, wasn't it?

"Not a kiss and tell sort of person? I see. I see…" she said slyly. "Well, I'll just leave you to your book then…"

"Good," Kakashi said with more bite than he intended.

"Mmm, but I will say this. If you're looking for anything lasting, you're looking in the wrong person. Akahana hasn't committed to anything except her job. Just don't be surprised if she acts like nothing happened for the rest of your lovely stay in the Suna," Kazue said softly as she walked onto the front porch to have a smoke and do paperwork, leaving Kakashi to sit there and contemplate what she'd just said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews/favorites/alerts! I appreciate them very much! Pardon some strange formatting, I'm experimenting with what I like best. Basically, small breaks in the story will be getting ~~~ or some sort of sign, and larger breaks will get the single line break things. I'm just trying to figure out a way to make it flow better. :) Other than that, enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Every member of Team Akahana was celebrating the beginning of their new mission in their own special way. Kazue was practically skipping with joy, walking a few steps ahead of everyone else because of her enthusiasm. Akahana was watching the sky, imagining all of the interesting place and people they would see while Miyuki was enjoying a book she'd been reading about the history of the Suna. Kakashi wasn't reading, for once, but instead was enjoying being out of the city. He had become a little stir crazy from being in the crowded Suna.

"I wonder what this princess is like. I hope she isn't a brat," Kazue thought out loud. Akahana just smiled at the thought of Kazue calling a princess a brat to her face.

"We'll see when we get there. I have been told specifically that we must stop each night when she's with us," Akahana said sternly, which she knew made the team frustrated. This mission would take much longer because of that. "She's not as sturdy as us. We have to be as accommodating as possible."

"I guess," Kazue grumbled as they continued the walk.

It was evening by the time they had reached the capital of the Wind Country. Inside the guarded walls sat an even more bustling and noisy city than the Suna. Tonight, the streets were alive with citizens holding a festival in honor of the princess's journey to the Fire Country. Everywhere they looked, there were paper lanterns lit with small tea lights. Songs and chatter filled the evening air as Kazue's face glowed with excitement.

"Commander…?" she begged, wanting to go eat festival food and dance and enjoy all of the little things that shinobi rarely were able to partake in.

"We're on a mission," she replied, some disappointment lacing her voice too. "We'll see. First, we need to get to the palace."

"Right," Miyuki agreed. The team maneuvered through the city until they reached the enormous palace at the summit of the hill within the enclosed capital. Kazue hurried up the steps with her team in toe, hoping that if they hurried maybe she could at least get some Takoyaki (_dumplings with diced octopus filling)_.

"The palace isn't going anywhere Kazue," Kakashi pointed out. She just waved him off as they finally made it up the steps. With a forceful push, she opened the gigantic doors to the palace. The shinobi found themselves inside a grand ballroom of sorts. The floors were made of some sort of mahogany while the walls were thin and able to be opened for air. None of the four had time to look around for long, since they were almost immediately greeted by a short man with grey hair and a small round face.

"Welcome," he said graciously as he swooped his hand out in flamboyancy. "I am Haraku, the Emperor's personal assistant. You must be the shinobi who are escorting Lady Hanako to the Fire Country's capital, correct?"

"Yes," Akahana said, instantly taking charge. "I'm Akahana Hayashi, the leader of this team." She bowed to him, which he nodded in return.

"I see," he said warily, looking her up and down. "Very well. Lady Hanako is in her chambers, relaxing from a day of festivities. She will be in no condition to travel tonight, but you all are free to stay here until the morning."

"I thought that she was traveling as a civilian," Kakashi commented. "Why would everyone be celebrating if this was supposed to be secretive?"

"You are correct that Lady Hanako is traveling as a civilian, and no people other than those in our capital and those in the Fire Country's capital know; however, the people were overjoyed with the news of such a wonderful alliance beginning, and of course the marriage of the princess, so they held a festival on their own. We've simply partaken in it."

"Where is the emperor now?" Akahana asked, not sure exactly if she trusted this guy.

"At the festival," he said with a smile. "Our emperor is a carefree soul, he is. He's been at the festival all day."

"Can we go to the festival Commander? Pleaassseeee," Kazue asked, making the Emperor's assistant's face light up.

"You all are more than welcome to, as long as you're travel ready for tomorrow," he said cheerfully. Akahana sighed and looked at her team. Even Miyuki seemed excited at the thought of having a little fun.

"Be back in a few hours," Akahana said tiredly. "I'm going to stay here."

"I think I may-"Kakashi started.

"Oh no! You're coming with us," Kazue said, grabbing him by his vest and dragging him out the door. "We'll bring you back some dango Akahana!"

With that, the entirety of her team was gone. Instantly, she regretted not telling them to stay sober, but she figured they wouldn't be dumb enough to get sloshed before an important mission.

"Allow me to take you to Lady Hanako's chambers. I'm sure she'd like to meet the shinobi in charge of her safe journey," the assistant said once everyone disappeared. Akahana nodded and followed him through the winding corridors of the palace. Even with her good sense of direction, she knew if she had to find her way out of here, there could be trouble. Afraid that she was being led into a trap, Akahana swiftly opened the door once she was lead to it, only to find a sitting room. "Lady Hanako may be in bed already. I will leave you here to become friendly."

The assistant closed the door behind Akahana as she wandered through the sitting room. In this room there were three other doors and a window on the wall furthest from the entrance. The room was full of chairs and embroidery utensils. There were few books, but many different beauty supplies all spread out on a large vanity. Behind one of the doors, Akahana could hear water moving. Lady Hanako must be in the bath. She assumed that the other two doors led to a bedroom of sorts and a closet. These were only guesses.

After a few minutes past, Akahana considered sitting down in one of the ornate chairs, but then realized she wasn't wearing the cleanest of clothes and she didn't want to soil the chairs. Before she could think further on this, a small pale girl with long black hair emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a dark red night dress and tiny red slippers. Akahana's eyes were instantly drawn to this girl's tiny feet. Sure, she was at least a few inches shorter than Akahana, but her feet had to be only a few inches long… Was that even possible?

"I'm not use to finding strangers in my chambers," her small voice said playfully as her amber eyes stared at the shinobi. "You must not be an enemy, otherwise you would've attacked me, so you must be one of the shinobi escorting me to the Fire Country."

"That's correct," Akahana said, drawing her eyes back up to this girl. She had to be only 14, maybe 15, but she talked with a kind of grace that older women possessed. Akahana was truly intrigued by her. "Lady Hanako?"

"That would be me," she said in a friendly tone as she eased herself into one of the chairs.

"May I ask you a few questions and tell you some information, so we're on the same page for the mission?" Akahana asked formally. Hanako nodded, gesturing to one of the chairs, offering it to Akahana. "Oh no, my clothes are dirty…"

"It's fine," she said with a small smile. Gracefully, Akahana sat down in the chair, her ankles instantly crossing like she'd been taught. Her hands folded into her lap as she sat with excellent posture. "You were trained to be a lady."

"Yes," Akahana admitted, immediately changing the topic. "For our trip to the capital, we have several stops plotted along the way, but we aren't very sure about how welcoming the inns will be at these towns, considering we are shinobi. Are you completely against sleeping outside on several occasions, if we must?"

"No, but I need to soak my feet every night," she said, gesturing to her tiny feet.

"Are they golden lilies?" Akahana asked after much hesitation. Hanako nodded shyly, sending a cringe through Akahana. Hanako had bound feet, which were excruciatingly painful. She wouldn't be able to travel very far without breaking. "I may reroute a bit in order to work with that. Do you have a false identity prepared?"

"Yes," she said with a smile, taking joy in coming up with a pretend story for herself. "I am Sango Irichi of a small village in the land of waves. I'm traveling with shinobi to the funeral of my fiancé, who was a shinobi himself but died fatefully." Hanako paused, basking in her story. "I believe that if anyone believes I'm in mourning, they will not expect me to speak."

"That's… genius," Akahana said, impressed by how smart the princess was.

"Um, not meaning to offend, because I'm sure you're an excellent shinobi" the princess said after a few moments of silence, "but aren't there other shinobi joining us? I would feel safer with more than one guard…"

"Oh! Yes yes," Akahana assured, noticing the relief on the princess's features. "There are three other shinobi with me, but they all went to the festival."

Hanako giggled at the thought of shinobi at a festival and leaned back in her chair.

"I hope they do enjoy themselves," she said cheerfully. Just watching her, Akahana knew that she would be enough of a reason for the Land of Fire and Land of Wind to bind together. She was just a pleasant person, everyone could love her.

"I just hope they don't enjoy themselves too much," Akahana sighed, picturing Kazue drinking her body weight in alcohol. Before this thought could linger longer, they were back, being welcomed into the room by the assistant.

"Hey Commander," Kazue said happily, not showing any sign of being drunk, which was a blessing. "We brought some chichi dango for you."

"Thanks," Akahana said with a smile, taking her favorite treats from Kazue. "Team, this is Princess Hanako. Princess, this is Kazue, Kakashi, and Miyuki."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances," she said with a nod, making all of them smile. Behind them still stood the assistant.

"I'm sure the princess would like to rest, so allow me to show you all where you'll be staying," he said kindly, but methodically. They all nodded, following him and reminding the princess that they will be leaving early in the morning. "She was well behaved for you all, right?"

"Yes, why would she not be?" Akahana asked.

"She can be a bit of a… well, she thinks too much," he decided with, after remembering that there were three ladies who could kick his ass walking with him. "Here's your room."

He opened the door to a small guest room with two beds and a bathroom built on. There was a decent sized window on the wall with a view of the festival. Kazue, was of course, excited.

"It's like we're princesses!" Kazue said excitedly as she tossed her gear off and threw herself into bed. She almost never had girly moments, but when she did, they were intense. "Now I just need to find a fairy godmother, a prince, and some singing mice."

"I don't think that'll be happening tonight," Akahana said as she looked out the window to the festival, dropping her vest and headband on the floor. Since she wasn't facing any of them, she rolled her mask down and started eating those dangos. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had them, but man were these good.

"Oh probably not, but I can dream right?" she said as she calmed down, her hands resting on her stomach and eyes flickering open and closed. "The Suna needs to have more festivals. They're fun."

"Yeah," Miyuki agreed, tossing herself in bed next to Kazue after putting her gear somewhere. The smile painted across her face was the most genuine one Akahana had seen from her since they met. She quickly finished her dango, rolled her mask back up, and laid down while Kakashi sat on the floor and read. Akahana chose the side of the bed that she could face the wall on, so she rolled down her mask and let her hair down. It felt nice to unwind a little bit.

She closed her eyes and just sighed in relief. They were here, the princess didn't seem like a pain, and this mission didn't seem as though it would be very hard. Sure, the worst was still to come, but she didn't have that foreboding feeling she always had when she knew something bad was going to happen. Instead, her heart felt light, her mind clear, and if anything, she was excited for a bit of adventure.

Some time had passed and while Akahana could hear Kazue and Miyuki sleeping, she knew that Kakashi was still sitting on the floor. What she didn't know was that he was having an internal battle: should he sleep next to her? Should he just sleep on the floor? Would she care? She shouldn't. Why does he care? Well, he was starting to know why.

Finally, he made a decision, kicked his sandals off, dropped his vest and headband on one of the night tables and climbed into bed next to Akahana, leaving a decent amount of space between them. He turned his back to her and tried to just go to sleep, but his brain wasn't having it. For whatever reason, his mind wanted to be a prick and just remind him over and over that he was sleeping in this girl's bed, this girl of his affections with those pink lips and that was usually where he stopped his brain until she would sigh or something, and then it would start all over again.

He just didn't understand what his problem was. Okay, so she saw his face: so what? She touched his chin and scar: big deal! Except, it was a big deal. The way she did it, with such… oh he didn't know the word, warmth maybe, it struck something inside of him. He turned on his other side so he could look at her. She had to be asleep.

"Yes?" she whispered, sensing his eyes on her. In her half awake state, she turned and looked at him, not caring at she wasn't wearing her mask. He knew he had to have a dumb look on his face because she was smiling in that 'you look like an idiot' way. Only she would know that he had a dumb look even with his mask on.

"Nothing," he said, closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep. He felt her shift, but not to turn back around. No, instead she moved closer, closing in most of the space he had made sure was specifically between them. He slowly opened his eyes again to see her only inches away from him, smiling tiredly.

"Really?" she whispered. He was going to nod, until she lifted her hands to his face and touched his masked cheek. His normally clear brain was now mush. She looked at him, waiting for some sign of approval, which he gave with a nod. Carefully, she rolled his mask down, looking at his face again from the light of the festival and the moon. Both of their hearts felt like they were going to pound out of their chests. "We really shouldn't…"

Her voice trailed off as the thought just seeped out of her head. Never in her entire life had she been so distracted by any person. All she could hear was the lesson her sensei from the Tea Country taught her once.

_"I'm never going to fall in love!" fourteen year old Akahana yelled as they took a break from training. "I don't care about that weird guy that my parents like. I will never love anyone."_

_ Ayame Sensei laughed, running her hand over her brown hair that was held back in a bun. Akahana reminded her somewhat of herself when she was that age, only she did fall in love and marry._

_ "Don't be so sure Little One," she said with a smile. "The universe needs balance, and you are not a balanced human. I'm sure your other half is out there someone, completely off balance as well."_

_ "I don't need balancing!" Akahana assured, crossing her arms. Ayame laughed harder._

_ "Yes you do. As much as I enjoy your company, you can be a little hard headed, short tempered, and loud," Ayame Sensei said back. Akahana just stuck her tongue out at her._

_ "I won't be tamed like a wild horse," Akahana said sharply, remembering that man her parents liked telling them that 'even the wildest of horses can be broken' when they talked over her disobedience. _

_ "No, not tamed," Ayame agreed. "Not even lead. Just balanced. Not many journeys should be traveled alone."_

Akahana smiled as she came back to reality and stared at this person. Ayame Sensei had always said she'd be well suited for a Konoha shinobi… but, it was stupid to even consider something like that. He would be leaving as soon as this mission was over, and even with a treaty between the countries, that wasn't a guarantee that the countries would always be on good terms.

Her finger outlined his scar again on his eye, wondering how he'd received it again, but knowing it still wasn't the right time to ask. Her doing that reminded Kakashi of his old team, and how he never knew what he had until he lost it. Was that what was going to happen here? Would he regret not knowing this person when he left? She scooted a little closer to him, so they were chest to chest and could both hear the other's heart pounding.

This could be the last moment they had like this together. Who knows what would happen once their mission actually started. Tomorrow, the other could be dead… Akahana put her hand back on his cheek and ran her hands down to his neck, wrapping her arm around it. Cautiously, Kakashi put his hand on her waist, feeling his face light up again. It was, surprisingly enough, Kakashi who made the bold move of doing what they both had been thinking. Quickly enough that he didn't have to toil over whether it was the right decision anymore, he moved their faces close and gently kissed her, instantly pulling back after doing so.

"Did I electrocute you or something?" she whispered, a laugh dancing on her voice. He just chuckled under his breath.

"I wasn't sure if you were going to punch me or something," he whispered back. She didn't punch him, only kissed him again and again until they both knew they had to sleep in order to do their job in the morning.

"Goodnight," she whispered, turning her back to him again and scooting back to where she had been lying. Kakashi made no attempt to stop her and only mumbled a goodnight back as he closed his eyes and tried to steady his out of control heart.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Thanks for the alerts/favorites :) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEW :D It makes me happy to get reviews :). Just to make things less confusing, from here on out the princess will be referred to as Sango, since that's her alias. Thanks for reading, and enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter 6

Walking out of the city was like escaping from those annoying relatives who have overstayed their welcome. Everyone in the town was trying to strike up a conversation with the princess, and in a way her body guards became managers, blocking her from her adoring fans. By the time they were out of the main gates, they were all irritated.

"Now the long part starts," Kazue said with a smile as she tossed Akahana the scroll with the map on it. "Which way are we going Commander?"

"That way," Akahana directed as she buried her face in the map and pointed in the proper direction. "We should try and stay on the trail, to make 'Sango's trip easier. Remember, call her Sango guys."

"We won't forget," Miyuki reassured as they started following the dirt trail. Akahana rolled the map back up and put it in her pocket, changing her stride so that she was standing next to the princess.

"Just tell us when you need a break," she said, stealing a glance at the poor girl's bound feet. Akahana guessed they maybe had an hour or two before she'd want to stop. "If they really start hurting, one of us can carry you."

"Okay," she said gratefully, pain already stressing her eyebrows. Akahana changed her pacing again, walking over to Kakashi.

"Sense any chakra out of the ordinary?" she asked quietly, eyes darting around the desert area.

"No," he said, staring down at the sandy dirt they walked on. Akahana had warned him that even though there weren't any trees, most shinobi visiting the land of Wind were well practiced in camouflage and hiding within the sand. Kakashi had decided he would focus on sensing any unhidden chakra until they were out of the Land of Wind. Of course, that wouldn't be for at least another day, if not two.

Miyuki and Kazue moved back as Kakashi and Akahana's quicker stride pushed them ahead of the group. This was ideal for protecting 'Sango' in the sense that there was someone on each of her sides and two in the front. If they had someone guarding from the back, it would be obvious that they were guarding her.

"Hey," Kazue whispered to Miyuki. "Do you think…?" she nodded her head towards Kakashi and Akahana, who were talking about random things like the weather. Miyuki shrugged shyly, not really one to think about that, but 'Sango' spoke up.

"I could see that," she said quietly. "Their strides are the same." It was true, they were completely in sync, and it was obvious that they didn't notice or they would've tried to change it. Before they could speculate anymore, Sango cried out in pain, stopping in her tracks. "I... I need a break now."

Miyuki was at her side first, now noticing how small the girl's feet were. There wasn't any shade nearby and stopping in the desert was too dangerous, not just because of shinobi but because of the possibility of overheating.

"In a few more miles there's a very small town. We could stop in there and get you some water, and you can rest," Akahana said as she knelt down and picked up Sango. She carried her piggy back the rest of the way, constantly assuring her that it was no trouble.

"Certainly I must be a little heavy…" she squeaked, feeling guilty for making this woman who didn't seem to weigh much more than herself carry her.

"No, I've carried heavier," she insisted as they continued. "Kazue, can you reach into my pocket and check my map. A town should be coming up really soon."

"Yeah sure," she said, reaching into Akahana's leg pack and pulling out the scroll. She held it several different ways, trying to read it.

"We're close," Kakashi said as he looked over Kazue's shoulder. She laughed embarrassedly by her inability to read a map, and handed the scroll to Kakashi. He was right and in a few minutes they arrived in a very small village that consisted of about ten houses, two shops and a pub/inn. Akahana led them into the pub, which was fortunately empty minus the owner. Carefully, she sat Sango down on one of the benches near the dead fire pit. Just by looking around, all of the shinobi could tell that this place would be a rough pub at night.

"You should let Miyuki look at your feet," Akahana said, knowing full well that women with bound feet almost never let anyone see them. "I'm sure we could get something from the owner to soak them in, which might help… I don't really know much about this stuff."

Sango stared at Akahana as if she was asking her to undress and dance around the streets. Just the thought of these complete strangers seeing her feet, one of which was a man, made her absolutely embarrassed. Akahana ignored this and walked up to the owner, not giving any explanation but a good supply of money. Fortunately, the Kazekage had given them a good sum of pocket money, with the expectation of them having to pay off a lot of people.

"He's going to get some buckets for you to soak your feet, as well as some tea and something for you to eat," Akahana said gently as she stared at this girl who reminded her very much of her friend who had had bound feet, before she died from them becoming infected. "Miyuki should really look at them though and see if there's something she can do to prevent them from becoming infected, since we will be walking a lot."

"He has to leave then," Sango said harshly, pointing at Kakashi. Akahana nodded understandingly.

"I'll wait outside," he said quickly, walking out of the pub and sitting near the door, pulling out his book. Kazue grabbed the water from the owner and Akahana grabbed the onigiri and tea, hurrying over to Sango. Carefully, Miyuki pulled off Sango's slippers and unwrapped her feet, now completely understanding the situation. Just from the small amount of walking they had done, blisters and sores were beginning to appear on her broken feet, which could cause much more problems later.

"Soak them first," Miyuki said methodically, "Then I can heal the blisters and sores that are present now. I'll send Kakashi to see if the stores here have some ingredients I could use to make a lotion that could soothe the pain, but our best bet would be to carry you as much as we can-"

"I'm not a child!" she yelled, flashing quickly to anger. "I am going to be a married woman soon! I don't need to be babied! Of course, you wouldn't understand the status of marriage, since you're all Sand Village Who-"She caught herself before that unladylike word left her lips. None of them flinched.

"Eat," Akahana commanded, handing her the food she got her. Sango looked up at her, still having a tantrum, but obeyed, eating the onigiri and sipping the tea that was handed to her. She didn't resist when Kazue forced her feet into the buckets, or when Miyuki went outside and told Kakashi what ingredients to look for. She stayed silent, preferring to pout to herself than to yell and misbehave.

"I think I pinned her wrong," Kazue said to Kakashi as she stepped out to escape the princess. "She's a bitch."

"What makes you say that?" he asked, looking up from his book.

"She totally snapped on us while we were trying to help her," Kazue said angrily. "If I was Akahana, I'd make her walk the rest of the way."

"It's our job to protect her, not torture her," Kakashi pointed out. Kazue just rolled her eyes.

"Akahana thinks we should stay here for the night. It's already getting close to evening and there's no way we could make it to another village before nightfall," Kazue grumbled. "At this rate, it's going to take forever to get her to the Fire Capital." Kakashi sighed in agreement.

"Am I still banished from the pub?" he asked, actually getting bored of reading. He'd been sitting outside for several hours in the awful desert heat.

"Yeah," Kazue said sympathetically. "I'll send someone to get you when you are allowed back in."

"Great," he mumbled as the fire haired girl walked back in.

"What do you mean you won't rent us a room? We've been here practically all day without incident," Akahana yelled at the owner as Kazue walked in, her quick anger showing its face.

"Shinobi in a lively pub lead to my walls being destroyed," he said matter-of-factly. Akahana could feel the vein in her forehead pulsing with aggravation. "Now you all need to leave."

Miyuki helped Sango rewrap her feet and Akahana carried her out of the pub with Kazue following behind them. Miyuki made sure to have a good grip on both Akahana and Kazue's sleeves, to make sure they wouldn't lunge at the owner of the pub and try to kill him. She was the level-headed one in most situations, especially ones like this.

"Now what?" Kazue asked in annoyance. Kakashi stood up and shot them a questioning look. "The owner won't let us stay the night because apparently shinobi like to cause bar fights."

"Nice," Kakashi muttered. The sun would probably set in a few hours and they weren't close enough to anywhere else to stop and stay. They could transport somewhere, but that could be so disorienting to someone not use to it that they ruled that out. So, they started walking.

"Are you looking for a place to stay?" a bigger man with scraggly brown hair and a scarred face asked. Miyuki instinctively flinched and moved behind Kazue. Big men frightened her, but Kazue sized him up, puffing her chest out and ready to fight.

"Why?" Akahana asked, holding Sango's legs a little tighter. She wasn't afraid, but just being protective.

"I'm in a business, a fighting business," he started. Akahana already knew where he was going.

"You're one of those 'agents' aren't you?" she asked, staring at him blankly.

"Yeah, and I need a girl for the fight tonight, or I'm out," he said, now sounding more desperate than he had before. "If one of you fought tonight, I would get you a room at the pub, no questions asked."

"I'll do it," Kazue said excitedly. "I've been aching for a fight anyways."

"Judging by looking at you, you're above the height restrictions," he said, his eyes going to Akahana, looking her up and down. "You however…."

"Fine," she said, putting Sango down. "You three watch Sango. Stay near one of the shops and always be near some sort of light. I'll be back with a key to the inn."

"What exactly is going on?" asked a confused Kakashi.

"If you don't know what's happening, then the Fire Country must be much more refined than us Wind folk," Kazue said as they walked over to one of the stores, sitting outside of it near the store window. "Pretty much these 'agents' hire cheap prostitutes, rent out a place, and charge admission to a small fighting match. They dress the girls in these skanky little outfits, completely degrading… 'Course, I wouldn't mind it if I got to kick someone's ass, but…"

Sango stared at the dirt, finally beginning to feel ashamed for what she'd said to her guards. She'd been very rude and now one of them was off degrading herself in order to get them a room.

"We should go watch," Kazue said with a grin. "Yo Sango, ever seen a fighting match before?"

"No, but… Your commander said-"

"She said to stay near a store or near some light. I'm sure there are lights in there," she said, grabbing Sango and throwing her on her back. "Besides, we should be there in case she needs our help…"

Miyuki and Kakashi both nodded in agreement. With a seedy operation like this, who knows what could happen to Akahana.

* * *

"Just one fight?" Akahana checked again as she adjusted her very low cut tank top and her very short and tight shorts. He nodded, staring way more at her chest than her eyes.

"Yeah, one fight and I'll give you all a room. I'm friends with the owner of that inn, and he owes me a favor, so…" his voice trailed off as he continued staring at her breasts that were way too exposed for her liking. Holding her head up high to keep some of her dignity, she followed the scraggly man to where this fight was taking place, which was the basement of someone's house. "Remember the rules: No ninjutsu or genjustu, or you're disqualified."

"I know," she answered bitterly as she walked into the small circle that was cleared for this fight. Her bare feet scratched against the cold concrete floor, making her flinch at the thought of anyone having to hit that pavement. Surprisingly (or not) enough, the basement was filled to maximum capacity, mostly because everyone had heard about the hot piece of ass that was coming tonight. Akahana didn't even see her team and the princess in the way back.

Her opponent came out of the crowd and into the circle, making Akahana even more relieved. The girl was scrawny, shorter than her, and not all that attractive, minus her chest of course. The only thing that worried Akahana a little was that the girl looked feisty as she jumped from foot to foot.

"Alright ladies, whenever you're ready," yelled the man who'd picked up Akahana. Akahana looked over to see where he went, so she'd know where to find him to get the room, and got clocked because she wasn't paying attention. The crowd 'oooooohhh'ed as her head flew back in surprise. Kakashi flinched and Miyuki sucked on her teeth at the thought of being punched in the face.

"Take that bitch down!" Kazue yelled with excitement, totally into the fight.

Without breaking a sweat, Akahana nailed the girl in the gut, then kneed her in the face, and ended the fight with a sweep at her legs, all with speed that rivaled the Yellow Flash's himself. She was unconscious in under a minute, and while Akahana wasn't particularly proud of beating on someone who wasn't as well trained as her, she did what she had to do for the mission.

"My room?" she asked the man, who just smiled at her.

"You can share my room Baby!" a guy from the crowd yelled. She shot him the finger as she walked over to the 'agent'. "Aw, don't be that way Honey." She was just going to ignore him, until he grabbed her ass. Then there was no more ignoring.

"I'm not just a piece of meat for you to have your way with!" she yelled in his face, only making him smile.

"You've got some bite," he said with a grin as he wiped the spit from his face. She felt an arm slip around her waist and turned around to beat the shit out of whoever it was; only it was Kakashi.

"You really shouldn't talk to my girlfriend like that," he said protectively, glaring at the man who was at least a head shorter than him. Funny how the guy disappeared into the crowd right afterwards. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but I can take care of myself," she said quickly, pushing him away. "And girlfriend?"

"I needed some way to get them to leave you alone," he said simply. Akahana glared at him, her arms crossed.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Kazue yelled as they followed the 'agent' out of the crowded basement.

"Yeah! We're coming," Akahana said, looking back to Kakashi and wanting to say something, but then changed her mind. "We'd better catch up."

"Yeah," he agreed, following her to the pub where they'd stay that night. They both silently agreed to not talk about this situation again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for the review! :D Like seriously, I do little dances around my house when I get reviews. My dogs think I'm crazy XD. Anywho! Here's the new chapter, along with a little disclaimer about the short stories contained within. Enjoy! :D**

**All of the miniature stories told in this are not owned by me, so I'm not taking credit for them. Some of them I know are owned by Hans Christian Anderson, other's I'm not positive of the owners. Stories are versions of (in order of appearance) The Flower Story, The Ugly Duckling, The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, and Razia's Shadow by Forgive Durden. **

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Chapter 7

"She got you good," Kazue commented as Miyuki finished healing Akahana's bruised eye before they left town. The agent had followed through and gave them a room, which proved he was one of the more honest scums of the streets.

"Yeah, are you almost done?" she asked, feeling much more powerful and comfortable back in her shinobi uniform. Miyuki nodded and took her hands off of Akahana's face.

"All healed," she said with a nod.

"Alright, then let's head out everyone," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. "Who wants to carry Sango today?"

"I want to walk," she said with some bite.

"That's too bad," Akahana said back, not in the mood to put up with her bullshit. Sango glared at her.

"As your boss, I demand you let me walk," she said angrily. Everyone didn't know why this girl was acting so different between when they'd first met and when they left the village, but then again, she was 14 or 15.

"And as someone who is taller, older, wiser, and could probably beat the crap out of you, I say that is too bad," Akahana said threateningly. Before Sango could fight anymore, Kakashi picked her up and threw her on his back. "Thanks for volunteering."

"Yeah," Kakashi nodded, leading all of them outside. Sango was trying to get him to let go of her, wiggling her legs and hitting him in an attempt to escape, but he barely noticed. His grip was tight enough on her that there was no way she could break out of it.

"You shinobi are brutes," she said after she'd given up on trying to escape.

"We're not too fond of you either," Kazue said lightheartedly. "As far as I'm concerned, the Fire Country can have you."

She just grumbled to herself while the shinobi walked in silence. They were almost out of the desert of the Wind Country, which would be a bit of a relief. Kakashi was disappointed though when they did get to the grassy areas because the grass was a dying brown rather than the lush green he was use to. There were still no trees to shade them from the unforgiving sun.

"Hey," Akahana poked a droopy Sango and handed her some water. "Drink this. We don't need you dying of dehydration."

"…Thanks," she said reluctantly as she took the water from Akahana.

"Want to trade with anyone yet?" she asked Kakashi.

"No, I'm okay," he replied, even though he wished he could be reading. It wasn't normal for all three kunoichi to be so quiet, so he had nothing to distract himself with. Plus, Akahana still seemed pretty mad at him about his smooth move last night, so that didn't help.

"We should tell stories," Kazue decided for the entire group. "Walking around all quiet like this only makes the journey even longer than it already is. I'll start!"

"This is the story of the desert flower," she said dramatically. All of her fellow travelers stared at her expectantly. "One day a young maiden planted a garden filled with many different kinds of flowers, but since she lived in the desert, she wasn't sure if they would survive. Still, she watered them and tended to them as they started wilting. Becoming discouraged, she knelt down near the flowers one day and asked them 'little flowers, what do you need for you to grow?'

The first flower replied 'I need more water and better soil to dig my roots into. If I had that, then I would grow.'

The second flower cried 'I need more room! All of these other flowers are stealing my water and my nutrients! I will surely die if I stay here!'

The third mumbled 'death is inevitable. I will not grow because I am not destined to grow. Leave me be.'

But, the last flower looked at the girl and smiled. It said 'Surely since you planted me here, I was meant to grow here. I just have to try a little harder, stretch my roots a little further and work with what I have been given, and surely I will grow.'

The girl continued tending to her flowers until the first three did die, leaving the fourth to blossom and continue to grow," Kazue ended with a smile. "That's a story they tell young kunoichi in the Suna, to teach us to deal with the cards we've been handed and flourish through it."

"That's dumb," Sango mumbled. Kazue glared at her and 'humphed'.

"Have anything better?" she asked. Sango closed her eyes and thought, until a story did come to her.

"The ugly duckling," she said, snapping her fingers.

"Everyone's heard that story," Akahana said back, only receiving confused stares from her fellow shinobi. "You all haven't heard that story?"

"No, should we have?" Kakashi asked. Sango just smiled and went on with her story.

"One day a mother duck's eggs were hatching, but one of them was bigger and wouldn't hatch. She became frustrated, but waited, sitting on the egg while her other baby ducks waddled around her. Eventually it did hatch, but it wasn't a cute little yellow duckling like all of her other babies. It was a big ugly duckling," Sango told sadly. "The duckling was ostracized by its mother and siblings and made fun of by everyone for being an ugly duckling, but the ugly duckling grew and grew. Its siblings all turned into normal pond ducks, but the ugly duckling discovered it had never been a duckling at all, but a beautiful swan."

Miyuki smiled dreamily at the story, humming happily to herself. Most of the shinobi had never heard any Hans Christian Anderson stories because they were usually taught lessons instead through traditional stories. The only one that any of them had heard was Cinderella.

"Now who's turn?" Sango asked, not liking that silence was setting back over the group.

"I guess I'll go," Kakashi answered. "Okay, so there were these two newly weds who had just gotten their own apartment and were starting to get use to living together. The holidays were approaching and both of them decided that instead of spending their money frivolously on gifts, they would just not celebrate that way."

"Well, the husband knew that his wife loved her long blonde hair and was so proud of it. Every day she would wash and condition it, brush it often, and wear it proudly. On his way home from work, he had seen these beautiful jade combs that would look perfect with her green eyes, but he didn't have the money to get them for her. But, this man really loved his wife, more than anything in the world, and he knew how happy those combs would make her, especially since she wouldn't be expecting a gift, so he decided that he would sell his pocket watch to buy them for her. Now, his pocket watch was his most prized possession and was the only thing he had left from his father, but he just knew that his wife would love these combs and always wear them, so he parted ways with his watch and bought the combs, hiding them away until the festival."

"The next day, the wife was walking home from work, idly looking in shop windows when a shimmering silver chain caught her eye. She stopped and looked into the jeweler's window at this pocket watch chain that would match her husband's pocket watch perfectly. She knew how much he loved his pocket watch and how he always had it with him, not just because his father gave it to him but because he always liked to know the time, so she knew she just had to get it for him. She walked into the shop, took one look at the price, and knew she would never be able to afford it. Disappointed, she shoved her hands in her pockets and started the walk home, until her eye was caught by a wig maker's shop. The woman walked into the shop and found that if she sold her hair, she would have enough money to buy the chain. She adored her hair and had never had it short her entire life, but she also loved her husband and knew her hair would grow back one day, so she decided to have it cut down to the root so she could buy her husband the chain. After all, the festival was that night. It would be the perfect present."

"After she had the watch chain in her pocket, she took her scarf and wrapped it over her almost bald head so her husband wouldn't see. She would find some way of explaining that later, but for now it didn't matter. She knew she had the perfect gift," Kakashi said with a smile, remembering how his father had told him this story a really long time ago. All of the girls were leaned in with suspense, walking really slowly as the story continued.

"So, the wife came home to find her husband waiting for her with something hidden behind his back. She said 'Husband, I know you said we weren't getting gifts this year, but I couldn't help myself, so I bought you the perfect present'. Her husband smiled, replying 'I bought you a present too, open mine first.' Becoming excited, the wife took the small jewelry box from her husband and opened it quickly to find the beautiful jade combs. At first, she was ecstatic and wanted to put them in her hair, until she remembered that she had no hair. She just continued smiling, knowing that she'd be able to wear them one day. 'Do you like them?' he asked, confused by her changing moods. She smiled and handed him his present. He quickly opened the small pouch she had the silver watch chain in, instantly caught off guard when he saw it. 'You know what's funny?' he asked her. 'I sold my watch, so I could buy you your combs.' She laughed as she pulled her scarf off her head. 'Then we are a pair, because I sold my hair to buy your chain.' Even though both of them had given up things that were very precious to them, they had the best holiday of their lives because now they knew how precious they were to each other," Kakashi ended, feeling Sango become deadweight and fall asleep.

"That… that was a good story," Kazue said with Akahana and Miyuki nodding in agreement. All three of them could tell Kakashi read a lot of books by the way he took the time to describe everything instead of just telling the story. He just smiled, adjusting his grip on the sleeping Sango. "Who's next?"

"I... I don't really know any stories," Miyuki confessed as she kicked a dirt clot in embarrassment. She wished she had anything to bring to the table, but her childhood hadn't been a good one. With her abusive step father and her indifferent mother, she was never really told stories, and all the books she'd read had been nonfiction.

"All of the stories I know are really long," Akahana said when they all looked to her.

"Well, since Miyuki doesn't know any, your extra long story will make up for it," Kazue said, knowing that if they heard a long story, time would pass even faster. It was only around 3 or 4, judging by the amount of sunlight.

"Okay, well, this story was actually told in song, but I refuse to sing it, so I'll just tell it," Akahana said as she paused and gathered the whole story back into her head. She hadn't heard it since she was five, when she'd first started training with her sensei. Her sensei's husband was a story teller and a medicine man, so he always had some sort of interesting folktale to tell her when she came to visit.

"Back when the world was created, one of the angels Ahrima became frustrated because he was not receiving what he considered enough credit for all of his work. Because of this, he destroyed the home they had created, which lead to his banishment. That's a whole other story, but not the story I'm telling," Akahana said with a pause. "The story I am telling takes place years and years after, when the story of Ahrima had become mere folklore. The world was divided in two; a dark side and a light side. In the dark there lived two brothers, Pallis and Adakias. The older brother, Pallis, was adored by all of the citizens of the dark and was a sensible but somewhat vengeful person while Adakias was seen as a foolish dreamer who constantly searched for the greener grass."

"One day, Adakias became fed up with the dark and decided that he wanted to go to the light, but his brother Pallis warned him that if her were to go to the light, he would track him down and make him pay for his actions. Adakias asked his brother if he'd 'ever dreamed of someplace better, where the lights shine brighter?', but was unable to sway him and left, knowing what his brother had warned him. Almost as soon as he entered the light, he saw Princess Anhura and instantly fell in love, as can only happen in fairy tales. She also instantly felt the same, and they went to go tell her father that they were in love and wanted to get married," Akahana stopped her story, freezing dead in her tracks. The other shinobi stared at her, wondering what was wrong.

"Take Sango and get to the next place," Akahana said, tossing them her map. Kazue caught it, looking completely confused.

"What are you talking about Akahana?" she asked, looking around. Then, she heard it. The stomping of feet, like a stampede. "Are they shinobi?"

"No, they're a rebel group. Probably from the Land of Song," Akahana said, her gaze set towards the direction they were coming from. "Go."

"You shouldn't stay here by yourself," Miyuki insisted, both Kakashi and Kazue nodding in agreement. "Let Kazue stay with you."

"Our mission is to protect her and get her to where she needs to go," Akahana stated robotically. "It's more likely that the mission will be complete with three instead of two. Besides, I can handle these people on my own."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes! Now go! You don't have much time," she yelled, which sent all three shinobi running. Sango started waking up from the shaking that came from Kakashi's stride.

"What's happening?" she asked sleepily.

"Some people aren't very happy with you being taken to the Fire Country," Kazue said before a giant earth shattering rumble shook all three shinobi. They didn't stop but quickly looked over their shoulders. Fire covered the area where Akahana had been. "Shit…"

"Is that one of her jutsu?" Kakashi asked, although he was half sure he knew the answer. Even though her natural element was fire, Akahana couldn't have done a jutsu like that.

"No, that sounded like home made bombs…" Miyuki said, staring at Kakashi while he figured all of this in his head.

"I'm going back for her," he said, stopping in his tracks. Kazue and Miyuki stopped too.

"But Kakashi, our mission is to keep the princess safe and Akahana's orders said-"Kazue warned.

"They say those who break the rules are scum," Kakashi said as he set the princess down. "But those who abandon their friends are even worse."

Without another word, he turned around and ran back to help Akahana. Kazue grabbed the princess and ran off with Miyuki, knowing that they couldn't change his mind even if they tried, and deep in their hearts, they knew he was right.

Akahana was fighting an entire army on her own. Even with her advanced skills, she was so outnumbered that they had hit her a few good times. She threw a fireball jutsu, hitting a group that was charging her, but not noticing the group to her right.

"Lightning blade," Kakashi called, striking down the group to her right that she hadn't even seen. She didn't have time to thank him or anything, so they just fought the hordes of people. With the two of them working together, they'd finished off every one of them that didn't flee in a decent amount of time.

"Thanks," Akahana said as she finally faced Kakashi. He smiled, completely unaware of the citizen hiding in the tall grass. Akahana hadn't noticed him either, until she saw him stand and draw his sword. "Look out!"

With the amount of speed he had and his ability to hide his chakra, he had been a shinobi at one time in his life. Kakashi wasn't fast enough to block him, but Akahana was faster than him. She was just fast enough to get in front of him and take the blow.

A tiny cough escaped her mouth as she felt the katana make a home inside her guts. Kakashi quickly moved past the shock and took the guy down before he had the chance to do any more damage. Then, he went to Akahana, who was lying on the ground, trying to breathe.

"Let me..." he kneeled next to her and carefully pulled the sword out, hesitating every time she gasped in pain. The sword had gone straight through her, but Akahana was tough. She wasn't crying or screaming in pain, even though she was gushing blood. She just flinched as she inhaled, trying to focus on breathing. If he could get her to Miyuki, she could maybe be okay. "You're bleeding a lot."

"I was stabbed," she said with as much bite as her voice could manage. Kakashi reached into his pack and pulled out the medical kit Rin had given him when he reached jonin.

"I don't know enough about medical ninjutsu to heal you, but I can bandage you up and take you to Miyuki," he assured as he unzipped her vest and ripped her shirt open. The wound went from right under her breasts in the middle of her body, about four or five inches long. It must've cut wider when she fell. Kakashi did the best he could with putting some ointment on the wound and bandaging it, but as he did so, he could see Akahana drifting. That was the last thing she could do. "Why'd you do that?"

"I…" she took a shallow breath so she could finish. "I will never let my comrades die… even if they are Konoha brats." There was a tinge of a smile in her weak voice as she tagged on the last part.

Kakashi didn't know what to say to that, but he knew he had to keep talking to keep her brain moving. She had to keep thinking and not drift to sleep.

"Can you finish your story?" he asked as he finished bandaging her and tried tying her shirt so that it would close somewhat, then zipping her vest back up. He unrolled her mask in the hopes that it would help her breathe.

"Why?" she asked as he picked her up bridal style. He didn't want to run and risk hurting her more, and he knew that he'd used the lightning blade about five times, which was his limit. He would have to walk as fast as he could, which meant that Akahana would have to stay conscious for longer than he'd like.

"Because I want to hear the rest," he said gently. She rested her head against him once he'd adjusted how he was carrying her so it would be comfortable for the both of them. He had to remain aware of the wound on her back as well as in the front. It was hard to find a place to hold her from that didn't touch that.

"I can't remember where I left off," she said, head dipping up and down with his stride. He was trying to walk as fast as he could, but he didn't want to hurt her. If her wound ripped more, there might now even be much Miyuki can do.

"They were going to the king, to see if they could get married," he reminded her. She closed her eyes, but he jostled her a bit so she'd stay awake.

"I wasn't sleeping," she lied. "Okay, so they went to the king's castle and told him they wanted to be married, but the king naturally thought that this stranger was just trying to get power and gold and whatever."

"That's logical," Kakashi commented. She smiled with those lips that normally distracted Kakashi because of how pink they were, but now worried him by how they were paling. He started moving a little faster.

"Anyways, he still disapproves, so the two decide to elope, until the princess becomes very sick. Adakias knows that it's because of his impure presence that is infecting her body, and…" Akahana paused her story, her brain becoming somewhat fuzzy.

"Infecting her body. Impure presence. What else?" Kakashi pressed. She blinked a few times, then continued.

"They went to see a specialist to cure her, and on the way there, they meet these brothers who tell Adakias that he is a descendent of the angel who created the darkness and that he is part of a prophecy to make the world right again. They also warn him of people who seem to be kind, but aren't," she coughed, blood splattering its alarming red, making Kakashi move even faster.

"When they got to the specialist, he told them that he would cure her, if she married him," Akahana said, telling the story with as little detail as possible. She was struggling to even breathe, let alone talk. Not to mention, her brain was swimming. "Adakias tells her to do it, and so she agrees and is healed, but before anything else can happen, Pallis comes back and tells his brother that he's coming back because the princess couldn't really love him. Then he tells the princess that it's Adakias's fault that she's sick but Adakias tells her that even though it's true, their love is too strong to let that stop them. Then Pallis goes to stab the princess and end the mess, but Adakias jumps in front of her, taking the stab and dying, willing his dreams for the world to his brother and the princess."

"That's a good story… Where'd you hear it?" he asked, knowing he had to keep her thinking. She didn't answer, even when he nudged her a few times. He could feel her taking shallow breaths and her heart struggling… He ran as fast as his legs would take him, pressing her close so that she wouldn't be injured and praying to every higher being he'd ever heard of that he wasn't too late.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you guys for the reviews/favorites/alerts! :D Sorry for the delayed update. I've been working like a dog recently -_-. Reviews do inspire me to post faster though (winkwinknudgenudge) just sayin ;). Anyways, enjoy the new chapter! :D**

Chapter 8

"I think she's going to be okay," Miyuki said mostly to reassure herself as she healed Akahana inside their small room at an inn. They were still pretty far behind schedule, but if they sped up their pace tomorrow, they would be able to catch up. "I was able to heal all of her internal organs and put a temporary seal on her wound, but she'll have to go to the hospital once we get to Konoha, and she'll have to be careful…"

Akahana had been unconscious for a while, but now she looked a little healthier. She was still paler than usual but some color had returned to her face, enough to give all of them relief. Both Kazue and Kakashi were at Miyuki's side, in case she needed them to get anything, while Sango sat in the corner and tried her best to stay out of the way.

"Since I'm technically second in command, I think we should go back. We're only two days from the capital and at least a week, if not further, from Konoha. We should go back, get Akahana medical attention, and then try the journey again when she's better," Kakashi said, with Miyuki nodded in agreement.

"No, there's no way Akahana will fly with that," Kazue said quickly. "We have to finish the mission. Akahana won't go back, so there's no point in wasting our breath. Besides, Sango's wedding is scheduled for two weeks. If we go back, they'll have to reschedule and that could cause some problems."

Kazue remembered Akahana telling her about the process that went into picking a wedding date for important weddings like this. All sorts of people were consulted about what would be the best date that would appease the spirits and bring harmony and what not. If they turned back now, the fire country would have to go through that whole ordeal again. Also, turning back would look bad on Akahana and their entire team. Going back wasn't an option.

"But Akahana is really weakened now. If we get attacked again…" Miyuki's voice trailed off.

"Then we'll just be very careful," Kazue said sharply. "We don't have another choice. We have to keep going, so don't even consider turning back anymore. Now get some sleep. She's stable and we're here. The worst we can do is stay up all night in worry and not rest while we can. Also… Kakashi, you may want to go bathe…"

"What?" he asked, confused by what would inspire her to say that.

"You have a lot of blood on you," she said simply. He looked at his blood covered hands and arms that he hadn't even noticed. "Don't worry. Akahana isn't going anywhere."

This was the first time anyone had called Kakashi out on his feelings for anyone, and it brought a blush to his face. It was somewhat hidden under his mask, but it was creeping higher and higher up his face, so he excused himself to go wash up.

"Told you he liked her," Kazue said to lighten the mood. Miyuki smiled and Sango chuckled, getting up and lying in one of the beds.

"She will be okay though, right?" Sango asked, worried because she'd become somewhat fond of these shinobi in these few days. For the first time in her life, they weren't bending to her commands because she was a princess. They just told her to shut up and deal with it.

"I think so," Miyuki said with as much confidence as her voice could muster. "Akahana is tough."

"Yeah I am," Akahana grumbled from the bed, putting her hands over her bared breasts. "You guys couldn't get me a new shirt?"

"AKAHANA!" Kazue yelled, gently tackling her friend. "Oh my other half, I thought you were going to die!"  
"You're being dramatic," she said, poking Kazue's forehead so she would get off of her. Not only was the girl a head taller and at least 30 pounds heavier than Akahana, but she was having issues breathing anyways. Being tackled wasn't helping. "Does anyone have another shirt I could wear and where's the boy?"

"I have an extra, but I think it won't fit your…. Chest region," Miyuki blushed and tossed her friend a shirt. She tried to put it on, but Miyuki had been right.

"Check the boy's things. Where is he?" Akahana asked again as Kazue hopped from the bed and took the opportunity to dig through Kakashi's stuff. She found an extra shirt he had packed and tossed it at her.

"He's washing up," Sango answered. Akahana nodded a "thanks" as she pulled Kakashi's shirt on. She tried to not let any of them notice her taking in the smell of it, which was very natural, like after a cool rain.

"How are you feeling?" Miyuki asked as Akahana ran her hands through her hair, which had dried blood in it.

"Oh, don't let my 'cheerful' disposition fool you, I feel like hell," Akahana admitted. She felt dizzy and weak from blood loss and hunger. She hadn't eaten since those dangos at the capital. Every time she took a breath, she felt like the seal Miyuki had molded on her chest would split open. "There's no way I could fight like this."

"Then take it easy," Kazue said. "We have three other able-bodied shinobi. You will be honorary 'I look scary but I will not fight' shinobi."

"So I'll be useless?" she asked sadly.

"A little, at least until we get to Konoha," Miyuki said. Akahana moved from those thoughts, so she wouldn't have to be disgusted by her inability to do much for a while.

"What happen to you all while I was fighting?" she asked, wanting every detail.

"When we heard the bombs, Kakashi went back for you," Kazue described. "After that, we hurried to get to the inn, but got lost because I can't read maps well. We did eventually find this place. Kakashi met up with us about an hour after we got here. Princess already ate and is taken care of for the night, oh, and I got you this." She tossed an onigiri to Akahana.

"Thanks," she said, reaching to catch it, but missing. Miyuki caught it for her and handed it to her. "Wow, I am useless."

"Oh come off it," Kazue said with irritation. "You and Kakashi fought all of those people by yourself. You're not useless."

Akahana just smiled at how Kazue could always make her feel better. She was one of those people who was just born with that ability to almost always be cheerful. The only time Akahana had ever seen her sad was when both of her parents had died on a mission, but that was understandable.

"You're awake," Kakashi said as he emerged from the bathroom, looking much cleaner. "And you're wearing my clothes."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we made Akahana put clothes back on," Kazue joked, sticking her tongue out at Kakashi. Akahana chuckled, but would've laughed harder if it wouldn't have hurt. Sango smiled, her eyes drooping.

"Get sleep Princess. We're use to being up late, but you need to sleep," Kazue said as she pulled off her jacket and finally started relaxing. Miyuki pulled herself over to the bed and laid down too. "How who should I sleep with? Hmmm…."

Just to burst Kakashi's bubble, Kazue was going to sleep with Akahana and him that night, but something she saw in Akahana's eyes changed her mind. She wasn't looking at Kazue, but at Kakashi with a sort of fondness that she'd never seen before. There was no way that Akahana was actually falling for him, was there? No, it had to just be the fact that he saved her ass.

"I think I'll sleep with the girls. Boys are smelly," Kazue said as she stuck her tongue out again at Kakashi. He just rolled her eyes and Akahana smiled at Kazue, happy that she made that choice. The pair waited until everyone was surely asleep before talking.

"Thank you," Kakashi said, both of his eyes meeting Akahana's. She just smiled and laid her head back. "How can I repay you?"

"Can you wash the blood out of my hair?" she asked. Kakashi smiled and picked her up. "I'm not crippled."

"Irrelevant," he said, carrying her into the bathroom and filling up the bucket that Sango had soaked her feet in with water, rinsing it out a few times before sitting on the floor where he had set Akahana. He picked her back up and put her in his lap, making her flush. He didn't really notice because he was focused on this task, so he dipped her head back into the bucket and scrubbed her hair until the dried blood softened and came out. She felt like she was going to fall asleep right there because of how gentle he was, not tugging at the clots like she would have, but carefully running his fingers through them until they came out on their own.

"Thanks," she whispered, mostly because her chest was starting to hurt again and she was exhausted. He pulled her back up, supporting her back but letting her head lean back so he could wrap it in a towel before carrying her back. Instead of complaining, she wrapped her arms around his neck and crossed her ankles, watching them dangle uselessly to the side. "You are going to make your wife really happy one day."

"Hmm?" he asked, smiling. He knew he'd probably never get married one day, so the thought of it just made him smile. He wasn't the type to get married, and he had a feeling Akahana wasn't either.

"Never mind," she said, closing her eyes as Kakashi laid her back down in bed. "Since I'm on the 'brink of death', can I ask you something without consequences?"

"You aren't on the brink of death. Miyuki said you'll be fine," Kakashi reassured. "And yeah, you can ask me anything."

"What happened to your eye?" she asked as Kakashi sat down next to her in bed.

"Back when I first became a jonin, I was an idiot. It was during the war, and I was leading my team, but I knew nothing about teamwork. I ended up getting my eye slashed out carelessly," he said somewhat quickly. Akahana could tell she was getting the condensed version. "My eye now, is one of my old teammates. We never got along in life, but I have a feeling if we'd known each other longer, we could've been great friends."

"He was an Uchiha," Akahana stated rather than questioned. Kakashi nodded. "I was wondering why you had only one sharingan eye. You don't look like an Uchiha, and well, obviously your last name isn't Uchiha, so I was a little confused."

"Well, now you know," he said, lying back and relaxing. "Since we're asking questions about scars tonight…"

"The one on my cheek?" she finished. He nodded, looking back at her. "Not as heroic of a story. Back when I was promised to that guy, my family was visiting his house. I didn't want to sit downstairs and listen to them go on about my life that I couldn't control, so I asked if I could go up in the library. His parents allowed it, so I went up there to find a book. Their library was one of the most magnificent things… I remember it was the only thing that comforted me when I knew my engagement was steadily approaching and I didn't think I could escape it… Anyways, I had picked out a few books and he came upstairs to check on me. He asked what I was reading. I said it wasn't his business. He took the books from me and flipped through them, getting angry because they were books he'd never read and I was explaining to him that they were some of my favorites. He never really liked it much when I knew anything that he didn't know. So, out of anger, he threw them at me. I dodged the first two, but the third hit me in the cheek and left me with a scar."

"That's…." Kakashi just cringed. He never really could understand why people who weren't of royalty were given predestined marriages like that. To him, it made no sense. "Well, he sounds vile."

"Oh he is," was where Akahana left that. "I have another question."

"Alright, but last one. We need to sleep," he warned, unsure of the time, but guessing at least an hour past.

"Why did you come back for me?" she asked as she closed her eyes. "I specifically ordered you to take the princess and go. I could have you discharged for disobeying order."

"Shinobi who break the rules are scum," Kakashi said, "but those who abandon their friends are even lower than that."

"And that means we're friends?" Akahana asked after contemplating that nindo for a moment.

"I would say that," Kakashi answered. Akahana just smiled, rubbing her eyes.

"Well, then, Kakashi, my friend," she said, accenting friend. "Goodnight. Big day tomorrow of walking. It's going to be great."

Kakashi just rolled his eyes at her and laid down in the bed next to her, giving her space. She appreciated that and curled in on herself, trying to find the best way to sleep with a four to five inch cut in her chest.


End file.
